My position on this front was clear, as stated in the above article: I could not support moving forward with an increase in the FasTracks tax in the absence of “a specific plan and a specific time frame.” Since December and the RTD staff finding that the combination of Burlington-Northern rates and other capital costs will exceed $1 billion for the Northwest Rail line (between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion, depending on the year of expenditure), RTD engaged in a responsible discussion regarding the most appropriate transit infrastructure investment for the northwest region. Unfortunately, with far too many holes in the details of the optional investment strategies RTD staff offered anbd insuffient evaluation time, the northwest corridor stakeholders were far from a consensus position on which direction to take in the march toward a 2012 FasTracks tax vote. This is not a criticism of either RTD staff or the northwest corridor stakeholders. We simply face a challenge that will take more than a few months to resolve.

So how do we move FasTracks forward? First and foremost, we need to make the best use of the FasTracks tax dollars that RTD already has at its disposal and use them to leverage other available resources. This includes, as John Fryer explained in his recent Time-Call story, RTD officials remain committed to completing FasTracks’ Northwest Corridor, “[A]ggressively pursuing federal grants and possible public-private partnerships to help fund improvements throughout the district-wide FasTracks system.” You can be sure that I will work to direct a fair share of these resources toward projects that serve Boulder County. Most critically, we want to make sure there is funding available to support the build-out and operation of true bus-rapid-transit service along US36 as we move toward completing the HOV lanes between Westminster and Boulder.

Just as important, I have called on RTD staff to reinvigorate the conversation it began in the northwest region regarding our options for future transit infrastructure investments. We know a lot more since we first passed the FasTracks ballot initiative back in 2004. I believe it is incumbent on all of us, whether we are firm advocates for the current Northwest Rail line alignment and technology or proponents of a very different approach, to conduct a broad review of all our investment options so we are sure we are making the right choice for meeting our future transit needs. Once we arrive at that consensus investment plan [or, as I said to John Aguilar in his story for the Daily Camera, Northwest Rail advocates look for ‘fresh start’ on RTD commuter train, once we are absolutely “clear what it is that we’re committing to this corridor and what the timing of those investments would be”], we will be in a much better place to advocate for the necessary resources to build it.

So, while the RTD Board is passing on 2012 . . . we continue to move forward toward fulfilling the promise of the FasTracks program.